Caracalla, also spelled Caracallus, byname of Marcus Aurelius Severus Antoninus Augustus, original name (until 196 ce) Septimius Bassianus, also called (196–198 ce) Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Caesar (born April 4, 188 ce, Lugdunum [Lyon], Gaul—died April 8, 217, near Carrhae, Mesopotamia) Roman emperor, ruling jointly with his father, Septimius Severus, from 198 to 211 and then alone from 211 until his assassination in 217. His principal achievements were his colossal baths in Rome and his edict of 212, giving Roman citizenship to all free inhabitants of the empire. Caracalla, whose reign contributed to the decay of the empire, has often been regarded as one of the most bloodthirsty tyrants in Roman history.

Caracalla, marble bust.

Caracalla was the elder son of the future emperor Lucius Septimius Severus, a North African, and Julia Domna, a Syrian. He was originally named Bassianus, after his maternal grandfather, who had been high priest of the Syrian sun god Elagabalus. He assumed the name Marcus Aurelius Antoninus and added the title Caesar because his father wanted to connect his family with the famous dynasty of the Antonines. In 198 he was given the title of Augustus, which nominally meant he had equal rank with his father. The byname Caracalla was based on his alleged designing of a new cloak of that name. Another of his nicknames, Tarautas, was that of an ugly, insolent, and bloodthirsty gladiator whom he was thought to resemble.

The ancient sources concerning his life and character are by no means reliable. One of them, for example, recounts that as a boy he was amiable, generous, and sensitive and only later became insufferable; but the same source reports in another context that he was fierce by nature. Modern treatments emphasize Caracalla’s Syrian heritage as one of the most important elements in his character, although here, too, due caution must be applied, since Eastern origin was in no way incompatible with a high degree of Romanization. Julia herself was well acquainted with Greco-Roman culture and hired excellent teachers to give her son the best education available. It is reported that he studied the Greek orators and tragedians and was able to quote long passages from the Greek playwright Euripides but also that he strongly despised education and educated people. This may have been the result of his passion for military life, which probably developed when he accompanied his father on his many military expeditions.

At the age of 14 he was married to Fulvia Plautilla, the daughter of the influential and ambitious commander of the imperial guard, Fulvius Plautianus; he is said to have hated Plautianus and played an important role in having him executed on the charge of a conspiracy against the imperial dynasty. He also exiled his own wife to an island and later killed her.

A significant development was the growing rivalry between Caracalla and his younger brother Geta, a rivalry that was aggravated when Severus died during a campaign in Britain (211), and Caracalla, nearing his 23rd birthday, passed from the second to the first position in the empire. All attempts by their mother to bring about a reconciliation were in vain, and Caracalla finally killed Geta, in the arms of Julia herself, it is said. There can be no doubt about the savage brutality of Caracalla’s act, but a solution that would have been at once moral and practicable was not in sight.

Caracalla next showed considerable cruelty in ordering many of Geta’s friends and associates put to death. Probably in order to regain goodwill, he granted an amnesty to exiles, a move denounced as hypocritical in ancient sources, which also slander Caracalla’s most famous measure, the so-called Constitutio Antoniniana de Civitate, as a device designed solely to collect more taxes.

His expeditions against the German tribes in 212/213, when he senselessly massacred an allied German force, and against the Parthians in 216–217 are ascribed by ancient sources to his love of military glory. Just before the Parthian campaign, he is said to have perpetrated a “massacre” among the population of Alexandria, probably in response to a disturbance there.

Caracalla’s unpredictable behaviour is said to have prompted Macrinus, the commander of the imperial guard and his successor on the throne, to plot against him: Caracalla was assassinated at the beginning of a second campaign against the Parthians.

Important for the understanding of his character and behaviour is his identification with Alexander the Great. Admiration of the great Macedonian was not unusual among Roman emperors, but, in the case of Caracalla, Alexander became an obsession that proved to be ludicrous and grotesque. He adopted clothing, weapons, behaviour, travel routes, portraits, perhaps even an alleged plan to conquer the Parthian empire, all in imitation of Alexander. He assumed the surname Magnus, the Great, organized a Macedonian phalanx and an elephant division, and had himself represented as godlike on coins.

Another important trait was Caracalla’s deeply rooted superstition; he followed magical practices and carefully observed all ritual obligations. He was tolerant of the Jewish and Christian faiths, but his favourite deity was the Egyptian god Serapis, whose son or brother he pretended to be. He adopted the Egyptian practice of identifying the ruler with god and is the only Roman emperor who is portrayed as a pharaoh in a statue.

In the many portraits of him, the expression of vehemence and cruelty is obvious, and some sources say that he intentionally reinforced this impression, perhaps because it flattered his vanity to spread fear and terror. It is also said that he was of small size but excelled in bodily exercises, that he shared the toils of the rank and file but also weakened his virility by a dissolute life and was not even able to bear the weight of a cuirass.

Caracalla, marble, Roman, 212–217 ce; in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City.

A similar inconsistency characterizes the judgments about his mental state. He was said to be mad but also sharp minded and ready witted. His predilection for gods of health, as documented by numerous dedicatory inscriptions, may support the theory of mental illness.

If Caracalla was a madman or a tyrant, the fact had no great consequences for his administration of the empire, which may or may not have been vitally influenced by Julia Domna and the great jurists who surrounded him. He was venerated by his soldiers, who forced the Senate to deify him after his death, and there is no indication that he was especially disliked among the general population. In any case, the Roman Empire at that time was still strong enough to bear a ruler who certainly lacked the qualities of an outstanding emperor.